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NZ | Ports + Infrastructure

118K views 329 replies 45 participants last post by  JeffRef 
#1 ·
Given the recent discussions surrounding New Zealand's ports and shipping infrastructure, I thought it was time we created a separate thread. :)
 
#83 ·
When I first read this "blue highway" bizzo I must admit I thought it was a joke! We have a hugely underutilized electrified railway from Akl - Wlg, 2 very competitive ferry companies over Cook Strait with their ships lying idle or sailing half full for much of the year and another stretch of now very quiet train track from Picton to Christchurch. The infrastructure is there for double the volume of freight to be handled between AKL - Chch on a 24 hour operation. I cant for the life of me see how it could possibly be cheaper, quicker or operationally more efficient to send goods via country roads to Taranaki, load on to ships for moving to Nelson, then tranship again for a truck ride to Christchurch???

And if you seriously think that Kiwi rail is going to investigate building a rail link to Nelson for this supposed traffic when we cant even get a link to Marsden point or whatever (kiwi rail is closing down rail links not opening them) then I think you mite have had a few too many...

The good folk of taranaki could probably better spend their time trying to get freight back on to rail to save the SOL line rather than wasting time and resources on these sorts of studies i would have thought
 
#86 ·
Thing is, it would be good for other viable transport options in case the current system is rendered inoperable for some reason. Christchurch isn't looking too flash for future rail development (for obvious reasons) so another alternative would be viable should the main link fail for some reason.

Anyway, that's a bit off-topic.
 
#88 ·
This is definitely the future of shipping in new zealand. One or two major hub ports with all the rest either closing or being used to feed the hub, and the close you are to that hub the easier and more cost effective itll be to import or export your goods.


Port of Tauranga tips 25pc traffic jump

Tauranga's port has been chosen by the world's second-largest container shipping line as the only New Zealand stop-off for its new Oceania Express service.

The vessels will initially call every fortnight but once business grows it will revert to weekly, and all the east coast ports will send cargo to Tauranga.

The service was announced by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) yesterday. Tauranga will become part of a rotation that includes Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Balboa at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, and Californian city Long Beach.

Port of Tauranga has recently announced five other new services, and the company expects container volumes will increase by 20 to 25 per cent in the next year, reaching 750,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalents).

Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said the latest shipping service would mean more jobs at the port.

"We are delighted that MSC have chosen Tauranga as their New Zealand hub port and this announcement provides another tangible example of the structural change that is occurring in the New Zealand Port sector," Cairns said.

"We are undertaking significant capital expenditure at the container terminal over the next few years to ensure that we continue to provide our customers with world-class levels of productivity."

MSC's Oceania Express service would start in October.

- APNZ
 
#89 ·
This is definitely the future of shipping in new zealand. One or two major hub ports with all the rest either closing or being used to feed the hub, and the close you are to that hub the easier and more cost effective itll be to import or export your goods.
So, am I to expect the closure of Port Nelson on the basis that is nowhere near Tauranga? Is Port Chalmers going to close? What about Lytelton? They're nowhere near Tauranga either. Should they close?
 
#92 ·
new crane for Bluff

Aug 25 (BusinessDesk) – The Port of Bluff operator, South Port New Zealand Ltd., will spend $6.3 million in the next financial year on new cargo-handling facilities in the largest commitment of capital spending since the company was formed in 1988.

South Port reported a net profit after tax of $5.98 million in the year to
June 30, a 15% improvement on the previous year as every major cargo category, including logs, processed sawn timber, meat and dairy-related exports and imports, and a record year of shipping from the Rio Tinto aluminium smelter at nearby Tiwai Point.

“In the port industry, it is unusual for almost all cargo sectors to be either growing or maintaining their existing tonnage levels at the one time,” said chairman John Harrington in a statement to the NZX.

Total tonnage through the port had increased from 2.17 million tonnes in the previous financial year to 2.674 million tonnes, and the port had “at times been stretched with its existing resources to service an elevated base level of cargo.”


Consequently, despite forecasting profits 15% to 20% lower in the current financial year, Harrison said the port was committing $5.8 million to a new, larger mobile harbour crane, and $700,000 on an additional heavy lift container forklift.

At the same time, South Port is lifting its total dividend payout for the year to 20 cents a share, compared with 17 cents last year. A final, fully imputed dividend of 14.5 cents a share, payable Nov.2, with a record date of Sept. 23.

The result was built on record revenues of $25.1 million, up 11% on the previous year, while earnings per share lifted from 23.9 cents to 19.9 cents on a normalised basis, which ignores non-cash impacts of changes to rules
governing capital asset depreciation.

The reduced profit outlook owed to the strength of the New Zealand dollar, weakening dairy commodity prices, and debt-constrained European and American economies, along with a substantial increase in insurance premiums because of the Canterbury earthquakes.

At balance date, the port had only managed to replace some 80% of its expiring reinsurance cover, although the remainder had been purchased since then.

With just 26.2 million shares on issue and issued capital of $9.4 million, the thinly traded South Port shares were unchanged today at $3.20.
 
#94 ·
Any which carry very low volumes of goods, are close to hub ports, or are subsidised by the regional councils. So probably oamaru (use lyttleton), whanganui (whats left of it), and gisborne.

Id downgrade timaru, port chalmers, nelson, new plymouth and napier to feeder ports which would service tauranga, auckland and maybe northport once the place and the railway network is upgraded sometime in the future.
 
#97 ·
What does gisborne export? Maybe a few logs but they could be sent on a barge, small ship or maybe rail to a major port or maybe combined with other stuff at napier and then sent on to a major port.

And its not just me calling for it but experts in the industry. Theres just too much replication of infrastructure in this country especially in smaller towns.
 
#102 ·
otumoetainz - this is it in a nutshell really and the dilemma that much of smaller NZ now faces. With small volumes of freight not really enough to sustain both a rail operation and a port facility and operational and maintenance costs ever increasing. You can continue to put a little bit through the port and a little bit by rail but I don't think this will work forever given the freight forcasts and population base of the area. It really has to be one or the other unless local ratepayers are prepared to look at subsidies.

Nelson had the decision made for it years ago when the rail was ripped up. Today it has one of the best regional ports in the country, good freight volumes and doing very well too I mite say.

So its probably decision time for Gisborne as realistically I don't see much changing for the region in the long term. Do you want your rail or do you want your port?
 
#104 ·
First city in NZ to have rail I might add. The Nelson Section was an isolated section of track running from Nelson to Glenhope, with the section being closed in 1955. Since then, it's been on the government's books to link Nelson with the rest of the South Island's network, either through Inangahua or Blenheim. The Blenheim route was actually commissioned by then Prime Minister Walter Nash, meaning work was actually due to commence. Keith Holyoake campaigned to have the line work halted in 1960, which, after he won the elections, was what happened. Nothing has been done about it since.
 
#105 ·
Yet another upgrade to keep pace with demand at Bluff

A $4.5 million dry storage warehouse project will begin at South Port in the next few months to keep up with increasing demand from the agriculture sector.

At the South Port annual meeting yesterday, chief executive Mark O'Connor announced the construction of the multimillion-dollar warehouse, with the first of the two stage development, at 3000 square metres, beginning in the new year.

The port had several contracts for dry storage, which included stockfeed such as palm kernel and molasses, but dry warehousing was limited so more space was needed, he said.

"All the existing dry warehousing at the moment is fully occupied at the port," he said.

It was the growth in the agriculture sector that had prompted the expansion, while there was also an expected increase in stockfeed demand, Mr O'Connor said. "We saw some fairly strong stock import volume in the province in the past year and there is potential for this dry storage warehouse to be required for stockfeed."

The first stage, which would cost about $2.5m, would be constructed by Calder Stewart and was expected to be completed by June, while the second stage was expected to double the size and would be reviewed in about 12 months to make sure it was still viable, he said.

The Bluff-based company's performance figures for the financial year ending June 30 were released last month and showed cargo movements on the island harbour hit a record of 2.64 million tonnes, up 470,000 tonnes on last year. This resulted in a normalised profit of $5.98m, up $770,000.

Primary industries remained the key to the port's growth, with log volumes exceeding 300,000 tonnes last financial year, a substantial lift from about 100,000 tonnes two years previously, Mr O'Connor said yesterday.

South Port outgoing chairman John Harrington, who stepped down from the board of directors following the meeting, said New Zealand Aluminium Smelters was still the most vital client of the port, especially because there was no guarantee shipping lines would continue.

The company's target profit for the 2012 year was between $5m to $5.3m, he said. This reflected the effect on trade from continuing global economic uncertainty and represented a 10 to 15 per cent reduction for the 2012 financial year.
 
#106 ·
Fantastic news for tauranga! :banana:

Maersk blames strikes, pulls one Auckland service

The possibility of further strikes at Ports of Auckland has forced major shipping line Maersk to shift one of its services to the Port of Tauranga, leaving the Auckland port company $20 million out of pocket.

Maersk told the port early this morning that it had shifted its Southern Star service to Tauranga.
Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson said he was ''hugely disappointed''.

''Maersk have explained to us that the possibility of further industrial unrest has been central to their decision to shift the service to Tauranga.''

The port company will lose 52 ship calls, 82,500 containers, and nearly $20m in revenue annually.

Gibson said the port had postponed today's mediation with the Maritime Union of New Zealand as a result of the move.

The port's Bledisloe and Fergusson container terminals were shut from Thursday night to Monday night, in a four-day stoppage by 330 wharfies over their collective contract. Another strike by workers and lockout by the company is planned later this week.

Gibson said his worst fears had been realised.

''We had already warned the union that their strike action, during one of the busiest times in the shipping schedule, could cost Ports of Auckland a major customer and threaten jobs.

''However, despite these warnings, a very fair offer on the table and a further offer of a paid stop work meeting, the union proceeded with its strike over last weekend, has already given notice of another strike this Friday, and is continuing to signal the possibility of further strikes, saying publicly it will do 'whatever it takes'.

''Given the magnitude of this service loss we have decided to postpone mediation till later in the week,'' Gibson said.

''We need time to work through the implications of the change in relation to the collective bargaining process.''

Gibson reiterated his call for the union to lift the strike notice it has in place for this coming Friday.

''Further strikes will achieve nothing other than to put jobs at Ports of Auckland at risk and undermine the country's supply chain at a critical time of the year.''

Maersk Line New Zealand trade and marketing manager Dave Gulik confrimed industrial unrest at Ports of Auckland had played a part in Maersk's decision to alter the service.

"The security of their supply chain is of primary importance to our customers, so anything affecting that, or likely to affect that in the future, will come into the equation when we are deciding schedules," he said.

He didn't expect a material change to total transit times for local exporters and importers.
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"Most of the export cargoes we currently ship out of Auckland are coming out of the Waikato-Bay of Plenty region, and those exporters' transport and logistics operations tend to be port-neutral," Gulik said.

The company's Northern Star service would continue to call at Auckland.

Maersk currently operates the Northern Star and Southern Star services in conjunction with Malaysian Line MISC Berhad, which plans to exit the container shipping business in June next year.

Meanwhile, Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said Maersk's decision was great news for his port.

''We have been working for some time to attract a new import ship call to Tauranga to better
balance our MetroPort rail shuttle service to and from Auckland.

''We are very pleased to confirm the announcement by Maersk Line and MISC who will now operate both their Northern and Southern Star services through Tauranga on a weekly basis, with connections through to their South East Asian hubs.''

The service loss is effective from this week's vessel, the Euro Max voyage 126N, which will now call at Tauranga on Saturday, December 10.

- BusinessDay.co.nz
 
#109 ·
Another massive win for Tauranga! :banana:

Fonterra quits Ports of Auckland amid strikes

Dairy giant Fonterra, the country's biggest exporter, has quit trading from Ports of Auckland as strikes by Maritime Union member workers continue.

Port of Tauranga and Port of Napier will share the load, picking up Fonterra's $27 million weekly trading, from the end of January until further notice.

Union member Ports of Auckland workers have been in negotiations with their employer for better pay since August, with major client Maersk pulling out of the port to move its trading to Tauranga last month due to the industrial action at Auckland.

Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson said it was inevitable customers would need to move operations elsewhere with uncertainty caused by the strike action. It recently put its ninth offer to the union which remains on the table.

''Following Fonterra's decision, I have today advised the union that this is our best and final offer.

''It includes a generous 10 per cent rise on hourly rates, performance bonuses of up to 20 per cent on hourly rates, and the retention of existing benefits and entitlements in return for a new roster system that will provide increased operational flexibility while allowing workers to plan their rosters a month in advance,'' Gibson said.

''Coupled with the departure of Maersk's Southern Star service to Port of Tauranga, the loss of Fonterra's business means that action is needed urgently.''

Fonterra and the Maritime Union were not immediately available for comment.
 
#110 ·
Tony needs to start firing people, these bums work less than 30 hours are week and are making 90K plus, these are unskilled workers, they should be bloody happy with what they've got, I pretty sure there are plenty of men out there who would do the job for 50K.
 
#111 ·
I couldn't agree more - this is like a return to the 1970's where unions hold companies to ransom. Why is this allowed to happen in this day and age? This is supposed to be a "free market". Every employee has the right to ask for better conditions/more pay from their employer. If they say no, then they have the choice to continue working for them or look for work elsewhere. That is what the rest of us have to do! Get back to work you greedy workers or let the sackings begin!
 
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